It’s a modest number, but one the Edmonton Rush had never previously reached.

On Saturday, the Rush defeated the Colorado Mammoth 13-9, on the road, to improve their record to 6-3 on the season, and in the process, move into a

first-place tie with the Washington Stealth in the National Lacrosse League West Division standings.

The six wins are a franchise record for the Rush who have missed the playoffs in their first four years of existence.

“It’s important, but I think more than anything, regardless of what the franchise has done in the past and is doing now, is that we’re 6-3 and we have five of our last seven games at home,” said Rush head coach Derek Keenan.

“That’s important for us. We play very well at home and now we’ve proven that we can play very well on the road. It’s a real big character win for us. We had to fight through a lot of adversity with penalties, it was tough.”

Gavin Prout led the way with four goals while Ryan Ward added a hat trick.

Ryan Powell chipped in with a pair, while Ryan McNish, Dane Stevens, Corey Small and Jimmy Quinlan added the others.

It’s the second time this season the Rush have defeated the Mammoth in Colorado. The teams will face each other again before the end of the season in Edmonton.

The win went a long way in solidifying the first ever playoff spot for the Rush.

They moved four games up on the Mammoth in the West standings, where just one team will not qualify for the post season. The Rush return home next week to host the Boston Blazers, Saturday at Rexall Place.

“It was a difficult game to play for our guys because we had so many penalties,” Keenan said.

“We spent the whole third quarter in the penalty box and half of the fourth quarter. It’s tough to play those games because you don’t get any transition and your goalie has to work his tail off.

“But (goaltender) Matt Disher was spectacular and our penalty killing was very good too. It was a good win for us.”